NHS Norfolk Board Open To Public

19 November, 2009

How the health service is performing in Norfolk - and how much it is costing - is being discussed by the Board of NHS Norfolk next week.

Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting, from 2pm, at the West Norfolk Development Centre in King's Lynn on Tuesday (November 24th).

Public board meetings are held every two months, at which the public can ask questions and hear about the latest developments in health care in Norfolk.

As well as individual issues there are regular finance and performance reviews.

September's Board was told senior managers need to make efficiency savings to balance the books. November's update shows their target is to aim for £18m of savings, within an annual budget of £1.1 billion.

Keeping costs in check will be an increasingly important focus for the health service, with public sector budgets likely to come under pressure in the next few years.

As reported to NHS Norfolk Board in September, the number of people going to hospital and the cost of treating them is a major issue. It is part of NHS Norfolk's 5-year strategic plan to care for more patients in community settings and reduce the need for hospital care.

Another major contributing factor is people turning up to A&E when it is not an emergency - which costs the NHS much more than if they are treated elsewhere. A new campaign called "Choose Well" has been launched, urging people to consult their GP or pharmacist in the first instance. It underlines the message that A&E is for emergency and critical cases only.

Medical Director at NHS Norfolk, Dr Bryan Heap said savings will be made by providing healthcare in more cost effective ways.

He said: "It is up to everyone to use the NHS wisely. Resources are not unlimited, it is public money we are spending and it is right we ask everyone in Norfolk to play their part."

Other examples of how NHS Norfolk is driving through programmes which save money and improve health care are asking doctors to use generic drugs rather than more expensive branded drugs, providing they give the same clinical outcome.

Screening tests are being carried out by GPs, preventing patients from developing more serious complaints which could lead to stroke or heart attacks.

The cost of wasted medicines in Norfolk is £5 million. It is thought to mainly be the result of people using repeat prescriptions to reorder medication they don’t need, never use and throw away.

Ian Small, NHS Norfolk's Deputy Head of Prescribing said: “It is an astonishingly high sum of money to literally be throwing away, which could otherwise be redirected to boost vital healthcare services in Norfolk. Particularly at this time of economic instability, we all want to make every single pound count - but this is a big drain on resources which could easily be avoided if patients only ordered what they actually needed.”

NHS Norfolk managers are also working to improve performance in areas such as waiting times for cancer treatment and the out of hours GP service.

They are taking steps to manage demand for emergency care which has caused the cancellation of some planned operations, including finding alternative hospital providers to help clear the backlog and managing demand for emergency care.